Multimedia from Friday practice

Randy Cunneyworth taleked about toughness.
“All players are tough,” the coach said after the Canadiens’ Friday practice. “Some are tougher than others.”
Cunneyworth said what the Canadiens are displaying is “a shared toughness.”
“I think we’re a tougher team. That’s not a bad thing.”

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Why would Burke hire Carlyle when he so obviously had under-coached his team in Anaheim? Talk about hiring by the buddy system. I always thought Burke was an “okay” GM. Now I think that he’s like Gainey was – just too old to understand the game today.

Only because it’s topical, I’m reposting this contribution from a very wise man.

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Why do I like David Desharnais so much?

A significant quote of his is telling: when he was first called up and the media were getting to know him, he explained that at every level of hockey that he’s ever played at, when he first joins the team he concentrates on defence and the role he’s supposed to play within the coach’s system. He said he did that to gain the confidence of the coach, and it would inevitably lead to more icetime and more offensive opportunities. I remember thinking what a smart kid he was, especially compared to Andrei Kostitsyn, for example.

He’s not a strong guy, but he makes up for it in quickness and agility. His assist on the Mike Cammalleri goal in Ottawa was telling, how quickly he pounced on the puck and wheeled around the net, no opponent could move in time to stop him. Along the boards, he gets low enough that opponents have a hard time getting leverage against him or getting a clean hit. He uses timing and a quick stick to steal pucks from bigger, stronger opponents all the time.

I may be partial to him since I remember how hard it was to play against quick shifty forwards. Sure, if the opposing defencemen can get a good lick on him it’ll hurt, but they seldom do. Unlike Scott Gomez, he has a variety of moves, and goes to the net or slot without hesitation, and is effective once there.

His linemates love him and want to play with him, and pout when they’re taken off his line. Max claims he’s the best player he ever played with.

This is his first full season in the NHL. He’s still young, he will improve, get acclimated to the speed, get stronger and fitter still.

The fact that he’s French-Canadian is a nice bonus. The Canadiens have a few competitive advantages. One is that they have a huge pool of hockey players who grew up idolizing the Habs, and will bleed bleu-blanc-rouge if they ever get a chance to don the jersey. I think we should use that to our advantage.

I think most people enjoy watching DD, respect his talent and the work he has done with the team this year.

People question his ability to become a Number One Center that excels in all aspects of the position. his offensive skills and determination are not in question. His ability to win key face-offs, shut down oppositions top opponents, and lead a championship team offensively.

Having Pleks as a proven second liner makes people question whether the team can be a true contender with Eller/DD/Pleks as the top three centers. Most of us think the team needs to make a decision on two of the three and attempt to bring in an elite Number One.

No one is expecting DD to be a HOF. Why can’t people just be happy that we’ve got a talented player such as him on our team, and stop bitching and arguing about if he’s a first line center or a second line center? What gives… This season, he IS our #1 center. Maybe next season he’ll still be or maybe he’ll be the #2 center, who knows?

I don’t know, but for now what I know is that I am pleasantly surprised by what he’s been bringing to the team all season long.

He’s a keeper to me, whether he plays on the first, second, or third line.

As you can tell from the post above, I agree with the sentiment. But to be fair, I don’t think people are crapping on David, they’re just justifying their love and desire for a big centreman and using him as a contrast, almost a straw man.

I would like a big centreman too, but I do remember with great inner turmoil our last #1 overall draft choice, Doug Wickenheiser, who we picked over local hero Denis Savard. Now, we had good reason to draft the bigger guy, he put up even more points than Mr. Savard did, and in the WHL to boot, which is historically stronger defensively and doesn’t produce the pinball number scorers. We’d been clamouring for years about the need for ‘un gros joueur de centre’ to play with Guy Lafleur, since apparently Jacques Lemaire wasn’t tall enough. Peter Mahovlich was tall enough, but we complained that he stopped skating when he carried the puck, so he was no good. Later incarnations, like Bobby Smith or Pierre Turgeon were found wanting too, they weren’t the tougher, meaner version of Jean Béliveau we felt we deserved.

We know how it turned out, Doug wasn’t a mentally strong guy, he just didn’t make it in the NHL. Denis tore up the league for years, was maybe the most entertaining player to watch after the Great One. So let’s enjoy David’s work and be glad for once that our player development got us a diamond in the rough and managed to polish him up to the quality that he is at now.

I don’t think people are crapping on him either, but of all the players on this team, he’s the one people keep talking about for not being a true #1 center. There are many negatives about this team, this season, and DD is not one of them. I just don’t get why many people are turning one of the few positive aspects of this team into a negative.

I don’t think anyone has bashed DD (at least not recently). I mean, after all, he is leading the team in points. But even if he’s performing well this year, there’s a sense of “luke-warmness” from posters, I think. A lot of comments are about how he has the two best wingers on the team at his side, seemingly implying that it’s the wingers who are making him look better.

Or the other variation is, put Pleks with them or Eller and they both would do better. I’m actually not convinced of this. Oftentimes Desharnais has put up points because he puts the puck in useful places and doesn’t pass into someone’s feet or in the vicinity of the target player. He can actually make plays. Maybe Pleks can do that too, but I don’t think I’ve seen him being as patient with the puck as DD this year.

rant away, only this time pick a better rant, I read this site everyday and I have only read good things and compliments about DD, sure we all wish he was a little bigger, but we also wish we were going to win the cup…….neither one is going to happen!!!

Perhaps he will be. In the sense that he’s a smaller, speedy forward who probably doesn’t get intimidated by larger players and can play with them and put up points.

In terms of sportsmanship, Gallagher will be a proper player. In fact, Marchand is probably dirtier than any other player in the league with his “self-defense” plays that are clearly attempts at significantly injuring other players.

The list is a puzzler. Some, like Getzlaf, are just having weird seasons. With Backes, I think it’s the coach’s defensive style. As for Kreicji … haha, I do not know! Not exactly a low-scoring team, is it?

One thing we have to remember is that he only has 114 games played at the NHL level, and he keeps improving before our eyes. How good will he be next season?

I have this dream that he goes and trains with Martin St-Louis over the summer and picks his brains and learns as much as he can from him. You can tell David is pretty fit, but apparently Martin’s summer workouts are unreal.

I’ve posted before about the graphic on RDS a few weeks ago which showed that David and Martin both were undrafted, both were essentially the same size, both played their first game in the NHL at the age of 23, and that after 80 games David had twice as many points as Martin had.

They’re talking about the Ron Wilson contract extension that was granted during Christmas on the TSN panel. I thought it was a grudging extension, not quite a vote of confidence to just tack on a year to an expiring contract. I also thought Mr. Wilson acted very unprofessionally by campaigning for it and then the manner it was announced, in an un-funny Tweet. I certainly didn’t feel that our organization, which has been accused of lacking class this season, was any worse than that gong show.

@Bill
Last year’s Stanley Cup final speaks loudest. I’m sick of firing coaches simply to please the “mob”. Finally, is this ridiculous fan base really going to write off a coach after less than half a season..? Really? Again, I say patience.

I’m not saying Cunneyworth should be fired because the fans don’t like him. I’m saying he hasn’t done anything to warrant taking away the “interim” tag from his title. I wish he had, but he hasn’t. The Habs have been much worse, not better, since the coaching change. That is what you call a Bad Sign.

I don’t care about Vigneault or Julien at this point. Never really liked either of them, liked Vigneault better.

But I’m the guy who thinks Carbo should be re-hired, y’know? Might want to consider the source and all that, haha.

I didn’t think you saw it, that’s why I brought it back. Anyway, if we’re talking Carbo, I completely agree, IMO he was another coach in Montreal who was pre-maturely fired. My main point is that there is not enough continuity in this organization (fans/media have very little patience). As a result, we lose a lot of talent. IMO RC deserves more time with a full roster (that’ll be here come October).

I try to not be the guy who just listens to music from when he was growing up. I lived through the hated 50’s revival, when I was forcefed Elvis Presley and Rock Around the Clock, and hated the whole Big Chill era fascination with the sixties. I vowed I wouldn’t impose the music of my youth on future generations. But when I feel like it, I fire up my 90’s CD collection, it’s all here conveniently loaded onto my portable hard drive.

By the way, are you confusing Sugar with Big Sugar or the Sugarcubes? I ask because it’s a common mistake.

I was a pretty big fan of the Minneapolis bands (Hüsker Dü and Big Black), the rock-funk fusion (Fishbone, Peppers, Bootsauce, Living Color), early West Coast rap. Not too big on the Seattle bands, but I liked Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Brit pop was tolerable in some cases.

i love how much strange diversity there is this fanbase. we have price haters, we have subban haters, we have koivu haters… i swear that if the rocket played today he’d be hated on right here as well.

seriously, how can you hate on koivu? he was a classy, quality player. pleks is the same kind of player. people talk about how koivu was a crap captain because the team was so terrible during his tenure… have any of the haters stopped to look at the team makeup during his time here? IT WAS HORRAWFUL.

… and here’s another random thought… Now that DD has become our best center, arguably our best player up front, and has more points than guys like Brad Richards, isn’t it time that SF, AB and the other DD bashers come to this site, step on their massive egos, and own up.

Your little Hobbit has become a giant. He’s better than Eller. He’s now a better center than Pleks. Suck it up princesses. Own up and beg for forgiveness.

I don’t know if I qualify as a “basher”, but … I am still a Triple D – a David Desharnais Doubter.

I respect him, his skill, and his long-odds road to the NHL. I give full credit for him being a guy who immediately seizes the first opportunity and makes it happen. He’s what Eminem is talking about in “Lose Yourself”.

But I still don’t think he can be a number-one centre in the NHL.

Of course, all DD does is prove people wrong, every day, and WTF do I know?

Take his Fenwick when he plays with Cole and Pacioretty, divide it by his Corsi when he plays with anyone else, then add his offensive zone faceoffs when the opposing players have a mean relative Corsi greater than 0, and then subtract his time on ice against western conference teams when the Habs played less than three days ago.

You forget that 5 on 5 Eller and DD have very similar point production. DD has piled up points on the PP while playing most the season with the teams two best wingers. Eller has also potted two shorties. Roles reversed, I think Eller would have much more production than he currently has, and DD’s would drop. It is a tough call.

Pleks has an awful plus minus because he was unable to play the entire season with Gionta and Bourque/Cammy. The Gionta injury hurt Pleks more than anybody.. Oh and not to mention JM playing Gionta with Gomez early on.

Hmmmm, IMO I don’t know about being better than Plex all around ? Offensively, ya kinda. Although, the shootout goal he scored yesterday night looked so effortless. I thought to myself after that, man this guy just keeps getting better and better. His composure for a guy his size is unreal. If he keeps this up for another season or two……then ya, mabey he’ll surpass Plex, but for now……..my vote still goes to Plex.

There is no better story for a guy like him. Kudo’s to Carbo on that too !

My friend Dan from Edmonton, the guy who can’t come up with the name of the ‘sports reporter’ who had an affair with Chris Pronger and got him traded out of town, he’s really worried about Taylor Hall. He says he plays so hard he won’t last, his body will break down, and he kind of wishes, with hindsight, that they’d taken Tyler Séguin, his game should carry into his thirties.

IMO this team would be set if it landed a true Number One in a trade, Even if it meant giving up one of DD or Eller, Any prospect, one of Patch or 2012 1st pick. give up 3 solid pieces for the Habs “Missing Piece.”

The proposal was to add any of the Habs’ prospects along with that. And I would definitely not trade Pacs+DD+this year’s 1st rounder for a #1 center since 2/3 of our current top line would be gone and who would play with this guy? Most of the up and coming top prospects are defensemen so that leaves picking up some UFAs. Which kinda defeats the purpose of building around the young players we already have. That and the Habs traded away Kostitsyn and Cammalleri already: two established wingers.

Maybe not a good comparison, but what about Naslund? One of my all-time favorite Habs (second only to Lafleur), but how would you describe his game? Not saying he was a slouch in the defensive zone, but I just remember him for his offense.

And if DD continues to produce as he has been, I think we have ourselves a gem.

I was thinking what a whack job PG is. He takes on Kabs for 4.5 mil a year (for 2!), but he won’t sign Jagr for 3.3 (for 1 year…) I know we’re talking different positions, but seriously…?! Imagine what Jagr would have done on the PP with Pleks and AK… or anybody else for that matter!

PG should be fired. He doesn’t have a clue and Bob should follow him out the door.

Let me say up front I did not want habs to ‘waste’ money on signing Jagr. But I never expected PG to do something as stupid as signng for Kaberle. The poster is right.. he should have signed Jagr instead. And yes he is also right.. PG and JM rejected Jagr off the bat. You may not liek the truth caus eyou still see merit in PG’s and Jm’s reign but they have royally screwed up the HABS.

Ha!
Did she pay for the bills?
We keep it pretty cool here, but only just started turning down the heat when we go out.
Because we don’t have fixed schedules, we can’t put a proper timer on.
16 degrees…

The heating and electricity is included, so no damage there. Houses in BC are so poorly insulated, and they use baseboard heaters instead of proper HVAC systems. I just made it clear to her that the bedroom shouldn’t be too warm or I’d be needing my space, we had an understanding there.

I didn’t want Koivu re-signed before the summer blow up and 11 UFA squandering. I was hoping for a renewal. However, I did not think Gomez taking number 11 was classy, either for him or the Habs to allow.

No doubt the Habs core is better. They’ve got a #1 goaltender who can do quite well in a hockey hotbed in Price. They’ve got 3 good D-men in Markov, Subban and Gorges.

They’ve got a great 2nd line center in Plekanec who is excellent at shutting down other players if it comes to that and playing on the PK. And now Pacs is emerging as a great power forward. DD could potentially emerge to be a keeper for years to come.

Obviously for all this to happen, some guys would have to leave their current positions, and a lot of egos would have to be checked at the door. But can you imagine if we brought all these guys on board?

Hartley meets the (stupid) language requirement, and has a pretty respectable track record. Brisebois was an asset to us as the “capologist”, and is filling a similar role now in Tampa Bay. The others are former players or coaches who have already done a tour of duty in some form in Montreal. It would be a heck of a budget for our coaching and management, but Molson definitely has the money.

@Bill
Last year’s Stanley Cup final speaks loudest. I’m sick of firing coaches simply to please the “mob”. Finally, is this ridiculous fan base really going to write off a coach after less than half a season..? Really? Again, I say patience.

Larry Carriere is a plant on the coaching staff by Pierre Gauthier, he’s only there to be the eyes and ears inside the room, to gather intel for the rebuild. In passing that may be a big part of the reason why team morale has crashed, and why Mr. Cunneyworth makes odd decisions. In any case, he’s not a professional coach and will not be back coaching next season.

Tomorrows game will be extremely physical chippy game. Anaheim under Carlyle was always one of the leagues highest penalized teams and I believe led NHL in most fighting majors. Combine that with the recent injection of Testosterone in Mtl, should be a rough one.

I can’t wait to watch Burke’s press conference, it will be all about how this wasn’t Ron Wilson’s fault, that the players should be responsible yadda yadda yadda (but not in the Seinfeld yadda yadda yadda way)